Titanfall 360 review – last gen shooter

The biggest exclusive on the Xbox One is now on the Xbox 360, but how can the game hope to look and play the same on the older console?

Until our review copy arrived earlier in the week we’d not seen a single thing about Titanfall on the Xbox 360. No videos, no screenshots, and certainly no hands-on preview. In fact there still are no screenshots and videos, with the ones you see on this page all being for the Xbox One version. In protest we were going to refuse to use them but after playing the game that began to seem churlish, after all it does look almost exactly the same.

There were two obvious theories as to why the Xbox 360 version has been kept secret: either because it’s really terrible or because it’s so similar to the Xbox One version that Microsoft is embarrassed at the comparison and put pressure on EA not to market the game – even to delay it on purpose if you believe the conspiracy theories. We don’t know about that, but what we do know is that this version is very far from terrible.

You can read our original review of the Xbox One version here, but for anyone that doesn’t know what the game is about it’s not a very complicated concept. Although the Xbox 360 version is by Texan developer Bluepoint Games the original is the creation of new studio Respawn, which was founded by two of the co-creators of Call Of Duty (although one left almost immediately) and is staffed by many ex-Infinity Ward veterans.

Describing the game as Call Of Duty with robots may seem like lazy shorthand but it’s largely accurate, especially if you add ‘and Mirror’s Edge parkour’ to the description. All the human characters (referred to as Pilots) are equipped with a short-range jetpack and although this doesn’t exactly make you the Rocketeer it does explain why you can double jump and wall run like the Prince of Persia.

The range of weaponry and special equipment for Pilots is fairly low tech for a sci-fi game, although there are things like a cloaking device and a very handy x-ray system you unlock later. You can play an entire match as just a Pilot if you want but the main draw of the game is getting to stomp around in a 20 foot robot exoskeleton (the eponymous titans).

Titanfall (XO) – this still isn’t an Xbox 360 screenshot

While the parkour antics take some getting used to controlling a titan is extremely easy. The controls are almost identical to being on foot, except you’re a little slower (more or less so depending on which of the three models you’re piloting) and you can only dash instead of jump. Otherwise though you’re almost as manoeuvrable as a Pilot, except you can now step on other people and you’re wielding guns the size of smart cars.

All of this is true of the Xbox One version (and PC we imagine, although we’ve only played that for a few minutes) and it’s just as true of the Xbox 360 version. Despite being on inferior last gen hardware the Xbox 360 version has every feature of the Xbox One game, including all the same maps, weapons, unlocks, and equipment. The online service also seems identical, including making use of Microsoft’s hype-filled cloud to allow dedicated servers.

Bluepoint aren’t magic though and there are compromises that have had to be made in terms of the visuals. The resolution is 600p instead of 792p and the quality of the textures is noticeably lower, with some occasional pop-in. In most situations though the game looks almost identical to the Xbox One version and a more casual observer is never likely to be able to tell the difference. We’ll leave you to decide whether that’s a triumph for the Xbox 360 or an indictment of the Xbox One.

To be fair though Repsawn did always say that they started making the game with no knowledge of the Xbox One and despite Titanfall’s many positives its visuals were never that impressive. And besides the Xbox One version is still clearly the superior one thanks to the frame rate. On the Xbox One the frame rate wasn’t locked at 60fps but it never fell too far from that ideal. The Xbox 360 frequently does though, creating a lot of screen tearing.

It still never goes below 30fps but if you don’t like the inconsistency – given how important split second reactions and precision aiming is – there’s the alternative option to lock the frame rate at 30fps. This deals with the screen tearing but makes the action as a whole more syrupy. The option is welcome but we suspect most people are going to perfectly happy with the default, which still performs better than many other Xbox 360 shooters.

If we dealt in terms of decimal points for scores we might be tempted to shave a few off for the Xbox 360 version but that’s all. In the end the only substantial problems we have with the game are the same ones we had with the Xbox One version.

Titanfall (XO) – the trailer doesn’t have any 360 footage either

Although there’s a generous 15 maps included, all of a very high quality, there’s only five game modes: Attrition (aka Team Deathmatch), Hardpoint (aka Conquest), Capture the Flag, Last Titan Standing (a multi-round knockout match), and Pilot Hunter (just what it sounds like). Not only is that not much but none of them are very imaginative considering the differences between this and other shooters.

A number of previously hyped features also fail to make any impact, with the various computer-controlled combatants that wander around the maps offering almost no threat and only a tiny experience point boost if you shoot them. We also find the lack of visual customisation for Pilots and titans disappointing, but Titanfall’s biggest misfire is the campaign multiplayer.

Before release Respawn kept talking about it as being the experience of a single-player story mode but with multiplayer gameplay. But there are no extra set pieces and only a few seconds of cut scene before a stage, which means that the entire storytelling effort relies on a bunch of clichéd characters jabbering on the radio. If the game wants to be multiplayer-only that’s fine but this is no substitute at all for a proper single-player campaign.

And although the campaign multiplayer is only a minor part of the game it is a terrible bit of universe building. Together with the generic art design Titanfall has the least interesting backstory for any new game we can remember, with two sides fighting over vaguely implied goals (there’s a milita and an evil corporation that makes robots) that ends merely in a bit of sequel begging.

But none of the problems with Titanfall are serious ones, and if a sequel is what Respawn want then we’d be more than happy to encourage it. Many will continue to argue that this is still not a major step forward for the genre, and that the quality of this Xbox 360 version proves that Titanfall is still not a game that actually needs a next gen console.

But the only thing that really matters is whether Titanfall is a good game or not. It’s most definitely that and, on both Xbox formats, the most fun we’ve had with online multiplayer in years.

In Short: A hugely impressive use of last gen tech that is only slightly inferior to the Xbox One version, and as such one of the best online shooters of the last several years.

Pros: Perfectly balanced gameplay and a huge range of emergent tactics. 15 great maps and the titans themselves are excellent – as are the Pilots and their parkour skills.

Cons: Campaign multiplayer is a farcical waste of time. Plenty of maps, but the lack of game modes and customisation points to a hurried development schedule. Some minor graphical issues.